Stories of Self Defense

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The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS – does everyone know that abbreviation, can I just use that from now on in future articles?) has once again sidestepped the issue of addressing the right to carry firearms outside of one’s home.

The court decided today that it would not hear arguments on Drake v. Jerejian.

The case centered around “may issue” vs “shall issue” carry permits. Generally speaking, states are broken up into “may issue” and “shall issue” states as far as carry permits go. Shall issue states will issue permits to anyone who meets a clearly defined set of criteria set by the state. May issue states either require the applicant to show that they need a carry permit, or put a lot of control over who gets a permit into the hands of select individuals (such as local sheriffs or police chiefs).

The lawsuit, brought by John Drake, challenges the “justifiable need” requirement the state asks for carrying a handgun. It has drawn the support of the National Rifle Association and 19 other states, who see the case as a possible watershed moment for reevaluating how the Second Amendment and state regulations interact.

The nation’s highest court now has scheduled a conference for Friday morning on whether to decide to hear the case in its entirety, according to its online schedule.

Drake, a Fredon man who owns and operates an ATM business and who occasionally carries significant amounts of cash, said today that the case could be the first step toward the “Holy Grail of the gun rights movement,” the right to carry.

If the court took the case and ruled favorably on it, the ruling could have cemented the right to carry a firearm outside of the home for an individual, much in the way the Heller decision for the right to keep a firearm in your home.